Faculty of Advocates, Lord Reid Buildings, 142 New Assembly Close, Royal Mile, Old Town, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, UK, EH1 1QS

Blue Faculty of Advocates sign marks the entrance to New Assembly Close at 142 High Street on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, directing visitors towards the Lord Reid Building and its Consultation Centre. The photograph focuses on the close nameplate, stonework and painted frontage, placing Scotland’s independent referral bar within the layered architecture of the Old Town. The Faculty of Advocates is the professional body for advocates qualified to appear in Scotland’s senior courts and traces its history to the creation of the College of Justice in 1532. Hidden behind the High Street frontage, the Lord Reid Building occupies an enclosed court reached through the New Assembly Close pend. It incorporates earlier fabric associated with Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms, which used part of the site between 1736 and 1784. The principal classical building was designed by James Gillespie Graham in 1813-14 for the Commercial Bank of Scotland. It survived the Edinburgh fire of 1824 and was later adapted for other uses, including the Edinburgh Wax Museum, before becoming part of the Faculty’s accommodation. Historic Environment Scotland identifies it as an example of early nineteenth-century Edinburgh classicism. The building is named after James Scott Cumberland Reid, later Baron Reid, who served as Lord Advocate from 1941 to 1945 and Dean of the Faculty of Advocates from 1945 to 1948 before becoming a leading Scottish judge. Today it supports legal practice as the Faculty’s Consultation Centre, providing rooms where advocates, solicitors and clients can meet. This close-up heritage image combines Scottish law, professional identity, historic signage, listed architecture and the visitor setting of Edinburgh’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The weathered masonry and angled hanging sign offer editorial detail for coverage of legal services, Scottish justice, conservation, architecture, the Royal Mile and the reuse of historic city-centre buildings.